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Opinion

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

Over the past two weeks, I have given my take on several ballot initiatives. My goal has been to encourage you to do your homework to make informed decisions. Solid arguments certainly can be made pro and con on each. Your blue book, which can serve as a starting partial guide, should be in hand.

I conclude the series by looking at three others: Amendment 70 (state minimum wage), Proposition 106 (medical aid in dying), and for a swath of Clear Creek, the health service district.

In any game, the rules are more critical than the game itself. For if the rules are stacked against one team or player or flagrantly flauted, the outcome will be guaranteed. That holds true for our governance. Ultimately only the power of the people to vote stands between a republic and an oligarchy or dictatorship.

Once more it is time for the “bugling” of the bull elk to flow down the mountains. This eerie, wailing sound is part of the rutting season and as much a part of the Rocky Mountain autumn as the turning of the aspen leaves.

The first call reported to me this year was on Saturday, Aug. 26. A bit early but not too unusual. The calling will continue through September and dwindle in October, with still a few last calls heard in November.

When soliciting signatures for ColoradoCare, now Amendment 69, I would remind people that signing the petition did not require them to support it if on the ballot. My goal was to move a health care plan to the public forum to debate its pros and cons.

It’s not easy living in a participatory democracy. A citizen’s work is 24/7 and never done. Our liberty and freedoms didn’t come easily, and holding on to them is arguably more challenging. The old maxim states nothing is free, that someone has paid, is paying, or will pay the price for the desired object even if the direct beneficiaries do nothing to earn or deserve it.

It’s not easy living in a participatory democracy. A citizen’s work is 24/7 and never done. Our liberty and freedoms didn’t come easily, and holding on to them is arguably more challenging. The old maxim states nothing is free, that someone has paid, is paying, or will pay the price for the desired object even if the direct beneficiaries do nothing to earn or deserve it.

Dana Milbank, the Washington Post’s wittiest columnist, recently wrote of his take on the battle between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. In so doing, Milbank noted comments from readers accusing him of “being in the tank” for Clinton.

Milbank readily admits he’s for Clinton. “I would support a ham sandwich for president,” he writes, “if it were the only thing standing between Trump and the Oval Office.”

Aug. 24. Four weeks and a day to the autumnal equinox. I guess I should call it the first day of fall, but autumnal equinox sounds better, more educated. But probably snooty to some. To them, that probably makes me a pointy head.

The Friends of the Idaho Springs Public Library, along with all “lovers of the library,” would like to express our gratitude to Girl Scout Troop 2049 for changing the mudpit into a wood post and chipper-chip walkway. It looks beautiful! Thank you bunches.

I enjoy reading thoughtful articles. Thoughtful in this case likely elicits another descriptor from others: boring. You see, facts are essential, valued pieces of information in my universe, even those that contradict cherished beliefs. In times past, I believed in absurd notions: Santa, the swaying of trees causing wind, and an open and embracing Republican Party. Detaching from that thinking wasn’t always smooth, but facts intervened and intellectual honesty demanded such.

The firestorm Donald Trump created with his response to Khizr and Ghazala Khan’s statements about him is an eye opener. Unstable as he is, Trump cannot help himself when it comes to creating and raising stinks by making over-the-top provocative statements. That’s not news. What is news is the overwhelming revulsion felt by the American people of this one. A bridge too far? Maybe.

I love to ride my ATV responsibly in the area, and Clear Creek County has so much to share. My friends and I love the area, and after our ride, we stop in Georgetown or Idaho Springs to shop and eat.

We always try to support the local businesses in the area. This is something the community needs to help keep the economy vibrant; however, we have seen where some locals are aggressively trying to keep any “outsiders” out.

The audacity of hope. America in 2016. Dare one hold a hopeful, trusting, embracing outlook in the Age of Anxiety? Or is it requisite to be down-in-the-mouth, a naysaying prophet of doom who holds that we, the American people, are not up to the task of resolving what ails us?

The recent county order to department heads to make 10 percent cuts per year in response to the closing of the Henderson Mine, which will cause a loss of 70 percent of the county’s property-tax revenue, is a good start.

But 10 percent across-the-board cuts is not real management. It does not set overall priorities on spending or differentiate departments that perform well from those that do not.

A political revolution has happened, but not as Bernie Sanders imagined. By nominating Donald Trump as its standard bearer, the Republican Party has finalized its self-destruction as the party of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Exit stage right: the GOP. In with the MUP: the Party of Mean and Ugly.

After a million casualties for the British and French forces in World War I, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill in 1915 proposed a risky venture to change their fortunes. It would become known as Gallipoli, so named for the Gallipoli Peninsula on the northern side of the Dardanelles that connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean.

By May, the venture turned into a complete disaster, and Churchill was discredited and demoted. But Gallipoli isn’t what we remember Churchill for; rather we remember him for his resolute leadership during World War II.

I have to write with my concerns regarding the future closure of the Henderson Mine and the distribution or lack of distribution of funding by the county.

It is unfortunate that we find ourselves in this situation now since the former commissioners were derelict in their duties not to make their county prepared for the situation, but politicians being what they are, this should be no surprise.